What if life were a game? If life were a game, we would all be going about our daily lives trying to score points. We would feel obligated to learn the rules of the game, and we would go out of our way trying to avoid losing points.

We would still be having fun at play, but only in a structured manner, as not obeying the rules could result in losing points. What a silly world we would live in if life were seen as a game!

Wait a second.. To some extent, life itself does appear a bit like a game, does it not?

In this blog I want to explore my experience of learning from the edgelands. It is my belief that places and organisations have edgelands, where things happen outside the norm. If you look hard enough and open yourself up to the experience you are likely to find new ideas and innovation. You can find a more detailed exploration of this idea on my website. http://www.edgelandsconsultancy.co.uk

Like many of my fellow OD practitioners, I have made good use of Elizabeth Kubler Ross’s work “On Death and Dying” in my practice. In particular, her work on transitions and taking this from the realm of death and dying and relating it to the stages people go through as they deal with organisational change and transformation. I have designed exercises and interventions to help people understand what stage in the change process they are at, how to move between stages and if they are stuck, how to unstick themselves and get back into ‘flow’. I am sure you all know her model and like me have worked to develop it and apply it in your practice.